State Grant Possible To Complete Plainville Bike Path Gap

PLAINVILLE — There are signs of a possible solution to a decade-old issue: bridging the local 9-mile gap in what is intended to be an 80-mile bike path from New Haven to central Massachusetts, a longtime volunteer involved with the pathway project said Wednesday.

James Cassidy, of the Plainville Greenway Alliance, said there is a chance the project could receive a $300,000 state grant to help plan an alternative route to fill the Plainville gap between Southington to the south and Farmington to the north.

"There is real interest from the state Department of Transportation for a serious project of planning what a route through here will be and have a plan ready," Cassidy said a day after path advocates met in Plainville. "It's hard to say what will happen, but it looks encouraging."

An active railway, right-of-way issues, industry and wetlands make it difficult to find an easy bike path through town.

In a recent note to the Plainville Greenway Alliance, Town Manager Robert Lee said the soon-to-disband Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency is seeking state approval to use about $300,000 in leftover planning grants "to look for alternatives to fill the Plainville gap."

Lee said the request will be filed by the CCRPA board later this month. The agency is one of several in the state being dissolved as part of a state-ordered consolidation of regional planning groups.

Cassidy said Wednesday that the news about the grant application and DOT interest in closing the gap comes at a time of greenway improvements north and south of town.

Farmington has plans to expand its section of the path to the Plainville border, including putting a bridge over busy Route 6. To the south, New Haven is ready to design a link to the path that will bring it to Long Wharf, the shoreline of Long Island Sound; Cheshire is working to complete several gaps in its portion; and Southington is working to bring its portion of the path closer to Plainville, Cassidy said.

"It's time for people to get out and talk this up," he said.

The two-state pathway will attract a lot of users and be an economic boon to every community it pass through, he said. The 80-mile trail could be a major recreation draw to the region, especially if it is publicized in New York City, about 90 minutes away from the New Haven terminus of the path, he said.